What seems like a lifetime ago, back in August when I attended Games Day Baltimore 2010 I not only got a chance to talk with Mythic about WAR but also got to talk with some folks from Vigil Games who are developing the Warhammer 40,000 MMO, Dark Millennium Online.

Since DMO isn’t on the near horizon — planned for 2013 or so — the guy I talked with wasn’t sharing the secret soup recipe or any firm details. I’ve seen a few interviews online where they simply aren’t talking. Fair enough. It’s what I would expect of a developer working on a product not slated to release for several years. What we do have is a pretty neat trailer that shows game footage. Game footage. This goes with my complaint about WoW, Star Wars TOR, and WAR with their super-slick trailers as opposed to how their games actually look in game. My talk with Vigil went something like this. See the tap dance? And here’s a neat interview with Joe Madureira (the creative director at Vigil … you might know him as the former kick-ass X-Men artist).

For those who don’t know what Warhammer 40k is … it’s a futuristic vision of mankind’s struggles in the 41st millennium (started back in 1987). Mankind is trying to reclaim its empire across the galaxy as they face the threats of their former brethren turned evil, Chaos, and various threatening xenos, Dark Eldar, Eldar, Necrons, Space Orks, Tau, and Tyranids. No one gets along in this universe so there is basically non-stop war everywhere. Thus the game’s long standing catch phrase: “In the 41st millennium … there is only war.”

At this point all we have to go on is this confirmation: the first race announced for the game will be the Imperium of Man. Classes mentioned were Imperial Guard, Tech Priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus, and Black Templar Space Marines. (You know that every freaking schmoe out there will be gorked out rolling Space Marines.) To satiate you SM geeks, here’s an interview discussing them (sort of but not really … actually discusses a bunch of other stuff). Okay, this is a better interview that will give far more details on the Black Templar Space Marine. Hey, I’m just trying to wet your appetite with all this info!

I’ve been reading that DMO is going to be more action oriented than other MMOs. And if you watched the interviews linked above, the main producer speaks to this. I like what they’re saying. I hope the playstyle equates to some nice PvP action. He said it will be somewhere between an MMO and a twitch-based FPS. I assume that will require some skill in the aiming department but will be tied to your toon’s stats (ballistics, initiative) moreso than your own eagle eye. I don’t envision there being many one-shot kills between the eyes a la Call of Duty.

The developer has said they want to move away from the action bars and other UI elements that have become an MMO mainstay. For a more action-based game it will be interesting to see how far they stray from that reliable look. Players are comfy to that when they play … familiarity.

If the world doesn’t come to an end in 2012 we have this to look forward to. I’ll be writing further posts on this MMO soon as it will be the next timesink I intend to spiral down.

This movie had been on my radar but sort of fell off the map for me. Walking the floor of Games Day I came across their booth where they were showing the new official trailer. The movie is CGI and let me tell you … it looks top notch! Listed as 2010 they better get moving … only a few months left. I didn’t take the time to chat with those there so perhaps there is an official release date.

The trailer itself looked sharp. I won’t describe it as it goes from a space shot of a planet … to a huge Imperial Starship with a Thunderhawk flying from it. Then there’s fighting … Ultramarines getting killed. I simply couldn’t do it any justice. I assume this trailer will hit the web at some point. So keep your eyes open for it. There’s some pretty good voice talent on this project … Terence Stamp, Sean Pertwee, and John Hurt. Not bad.

This will be the next MMO I play devoutly. I am calling it right now and odds are … it will be the MMO that makes me leave WAR. At E3 today, Vigil released a trailer for the game and in trying to keep things cool and collected, it looks promising. Will we have vehicles at our disposal to fly around in? Will the PvP and gameplay be twitchtastic?

The trailer opens with what appears to be a Tech Adept going through tomes of some sort. We then see a bloated Nurgle Daemon wielding a massive clublike weapon. It then cuts to an overly exhuberant Space Ork obviously ready for a throwdown. Next is a Chaos Cultist. The trailer then kicks in and we’re treated to some sweet action as a Warhound Titan stomps forward.

Then come various Space Marines — those of the Imperium, those that appear to be followers of Khorne, and lastly I would venture a guess they are Grey Knights. Will the game be focused on select SM Chapters or will players get to choose from a lengthy list. Or … will we get to create our own? How cool would that be?

Vehicle images ensue which make me ponder the possibilities of vehicle “mounts” and maybe vehicle combat. And unlike so many games, it should be mandatory in an MMO for 40k that vehicles be as customizable as your main character. Who wouldn’t want to be an Ork Biker Boy with the option of adding some huge, fire-spewing exhaust pipes, blades off the wheel axles, and big dakka-dakka shootas on the handlebars?

We get a glimpse of the Imperial Guard … more vehicles … more titans … and a cool looking Chaos Dreadnought. There’s other coolness flashing in the trailer and an image of a man in white robes I can only assume is an Inquisitor? He’s projecting a psychic shield as protection from purple energy. Purely a guess.

I’ve watched the trailer many times and it leaves me wanting more. I played the tabletop game and am still enthralled with its story and lore. There’s so much potential I hope Vigil can come close. I don’t expect perfection, but please come close. I expect massive amounts of customization options on both characters, trophies, weapons, vehicles, etc. Learn from other games and give us these choices.

I couldn’t resist checking out the announcement article over at Massively and especially the comments. Overall lots of excitement but the usual naysayers were present. And I can’t resist … for any Blizzard lovers reading … 40k came first, not Starcraft. The humans in SC are rip-offs of Space Marines. The Protoss? Eldar. The Zerg? Tyranids. So between now and the 40k launch I can’t wait to read all the ill-informed claiming 40k is a rip-off of Starcraft. I love Starcraft too, so no hate intended just the facts.

I’ve given it some thought and feel this game should be totally different than WAR. No alliances. Period. I’d expect to see the Imperium, Chaos, Space Orks, and Eldar. Sure, the Eldar don’t appear in the trailer but every MMO needs elves of some sort, right? The Eldar are simply space elves. The Imperium would be the most versatile … there’s so much to choose from: Space Marines, Imperial Guard, Sisters of Battle, Inquisition, Adeptus Mechanicus. Chaos is also a conundrum as the four Chaos Gods (Khorne, Nurgle, Slaanesh, Tzeentch) all hate each other and never ally. Orks would be quite versatile as the different clans all exhibit different characterisitcs. One could be a Bad Moons (wealthy), Blood Axe (use human tech), Deathskullz (looters) Goff (toughest), and Snakebite (feral). Why have Eldar? Think of the different classes we could have to choose from … Dark Reapers, Dire Avengers, Fire Dragons, Howling Banshees, Shining Spears, Striking Scorpions, Swooping Hawks, Warp Spiders. And those are just the Aspect Warriors. Can you say ALTitis?

Before anyone flames me, we can’t get everything at once and sadly, I’d say there are some races that simply are not a good fit for playing (in my opinion). Tyranids and Necrons cry out as good candidates for NPC only. Both are mindless drone armies led by single minds of some sort. But who am I? Dark Eldar, Tau, Eldar Exodites, Eldar Harlequins … think expansion. And what about one of the best possible re-introductions in tabletop gaming history? Bring back the Squats!

As I said, this game will become my MMO of choice but alas, we’re probably staring at a 2013 release for it. Initially there was word it would be 2012 but how often do these games ever release when they say they will? Yeah, never. So for the foreseeable future, WAR is stuck with me.